Bullets Forever ll Wash. Wizards Association

[NSSpartans81]

Association Settings:
NBA 2K13
(Controlling all 30 teams to keep Trading + Rotations realistic.)
Games: 82
Difficulty: Superstar (Reg. Season)/ Hall of Fame (Playoffs)
Quarter Length: 12 Mins
Sim Length: 12 Mins
Team Chemistry: On
Player Roles: On
Draft Classes: Auto Generated

2012-2013 Washington Wizards Roster
#	NAME	POS	AGE	HT	WT	SALARY
1	Trevor Ariza	SF/SG	27	6-8	210	$7,260,000
30	Earl Barron	C	31	7-0	250	$1,150,000
3	Bradley Beal	SG	19	6-3	207	$4,130,000
35	Trevor Booker	PF	24	6-8	240	$1,380,000
15	Jordan Crawford	SG/PG	24	6-4	195	$1,200,000
14	Shaun Livingston	PG/SG	27	6-7	175	$909,000
20	Cartier Martin	SF	27	6-7	220	$916,000
42	Nene	PF/C	30	6-11	250	$13,000,000
50	Emeka Okafor	C	30	6-10	255	$13,540,000
12	A.J. Price	PG	26	6-2	185	$885,000
13	Kevin Seraphin	C/PF	22	6-9	275	$1,800,000
31	Chris Singleton	PF/SF	22	6-8	230	$1,600,000
24	Jan Vesely	PF/C	22	6-11	240	$3,330,000
2	John Wall	PG	22	6-4	195	$5,920,000
9	Martell Webster	SF/SG	25	6-7	230	$1,600,000

Washington Wizards Depth Chart
	STARTERS	2ND	3RD	4TH
PG	John Wall	A.J. Price	Shaun Livingston
SG	Bradley Beal	Jordan Crawford
SF	Trevor Ariva	Martell Webster	Cartier Martin
PF	Nene	Trevor Booker	Chris Singleton	Jan Vesely
C	Emeka Okafor	Kevin Seraphin	Earl Barron

Coaching Staff:
Head Coach: Randy Wittman

Assistant Coach: Sam Cassell

NBA Scout: Frank Bryant

Draft Scouts: Glen Montgomery, Bruce Hayes

Trainer: Eric Waters

[NSSpartans81]

2012-2013 Washington Wizards Season Preview

Will the third year of the John Wall era feature the first Wizards playoff appearance since 2008?

Last Year's Record: 20-46 (14th in the Eastern Conference)

Key Roster Losses: Andray Blatche, Rashard Lewis

Key Roster Additions: Trevor Ariza, Emeka Okafor, A.J. Price, Jannero Pargo, Martell Webster

Rookies: Bradley Beal, (Tomas Satoransky will play in Europe)

What significant moves were made during the offseason?

Bradley Beal, drafted third overall out of the University of Florida, already looks like an excellent draft pick. His jumper has been every bit as good as advertised so far, and he'll only see more open looks with John Wall and Nene sharing the court with him. Beal's also a surprisingly steady ball handler and, in a marked contrast to his predecessor at shooting guard in Nick Young, excels at finishing through contact and getting to the line. At the very worst, he'll be a solid starter at the 2 for a decade, possibly as soon as this year.

The team also swapped one bloated contract for two, dealing Rashard Lewis to the Hornets for Ariza and Okafor. Ariza and Okafor should at least in theory be very valuable veteran defenders, but there are a few signs that both could flop in Washington. Okafor dealt with knee issues last year and isn't skilled or big enough to contribute much when he's a step slow, so his previously great defense has fallen off quite a bit and could continue to decline in 2013. Ariza, although uninjured and at his athletic peak, has spent the majority of his career playing for teams that have been more relevant than the Wizards will be and might struggle to stay motivated as a complementary piece on a fringe playoff team without a very high national profile. With newcomer Martell Webster and sophomore Chris Singleton waiting in the wings, it's possible Ariza could lose the starting job if he gets off to a slow start this year.

What are the team's biggest strengths?

Washington finished with the league's 21st best defense on a per-possession basis last year, but the numbers only tell part of the story. The defense was awful until Javale McGee was swapped out for Nene, at which point the team suddenly turned into the 76ers. While the Wizards lack a traditional rim protector -- Seraphin, Okafor, and Nene are all slightly undersized for a center -- they have a lot of length and quickness at every position, with a few players who could eventually become elite defenders. Nene, while not the shot blocker or rebounder McGee is, excels at all of the little things you want a center to do, particularly switching onto perimeter players and boxing out. All this explains why the team was fourth in the league in defensive rating from the time of the trade to the end of the season. The additions of Ariza, Okafor, and Webster, as well as the continuing development of the team's young core should make the Wizards at the very least a respectable defensive team this year.

The Wizards are also a surprisingly deep team, especially in the frontcourt. While Nene and John Wall are the only players who are above-average starters, the team has three rotation-caliber small forwards and a half dozen productive big men. Players like Jan Vesely and Trevor Booker aren't going to scare anyone, but as far as second or third big men off of the bench, you can do a lot worse.

What are the team's biggest weaknesses?

Shooting, Or rather, a lack thereof. Everyone knows that Wall's a Rajon Rondo-esque outside shooter, but the bigger problem might be the team's lack of shooting from the power forward position. All of those productive big men I mentioned earlier are productive because they're good at getting garbage buckets and rebounding, not hitting jump shots. As a result, the team's spacing is going to be bad this year. Beal, Webster and Cartier Martin will help, but this is a team that is going to struggle to score this year, especially if their opponents decide to pack the paint.

The Wizards' management and coaching staff also doesn't inspire much confidence. While GM Ernie Grunfeld has been involved with the NBA for many years, the best any one of his teams in D.C. has ever been is mediocre. A large part of the problem is a tendency to overpay in trades and free agency rather than stay patient with cap space. Ariza and Okafor will cost more than $20 million during the last year of their contracts, for example. The coaching staff also doesn't have an especially proven track record. The players took to Randy Wittman after Flip Saunders got fired, but he also has never won more than 32 games in a season as a head coach. Wouldn't the team have been better off making a Godfather-type offer to, say, Donnie Walsh and a Van Gundy?

One thing that isn't a weakness this year is professionalism. Post-McGee trade, the team is devoid of knuckleheads and is comprised entirely of high-character guys with solid work ethics.

What are the goals for this team?

On a macro level, the team is taking a playoffs-or-bust attitude this year. With a still-improving Wall surrounded by quality veterans and youngsters who actually know how to play, the Wizards have a legitimate shot at the No. 8 seed. The Raptors, Pistons, Cavaliers, and Bucks have assembled similarly talented teams, though, so simple luck might mean the difference between getting swept in the first round by Miami and the sixth pick in the draft.

On a micro level, continued development for the youngsters is the most important goal for the upcoming season. Washington has pulled together some intriguing young pieces, but the franchise's spotty track record when it comes to player development makes it hard to get too optimistic about anyone. Wall, Seraphin, Vesely, and Singleton all have significant holes in their games that, if filled, could lead to dramatic improvements in their overall production.

Is John Wall really a franchise player?

After two up and down seasons,Wall still hasn't turned the corner and staked a claim as one of the NBA's elite. He still needs to be more disciplined on defense and improve his ball handling, but he's actually become somewhere between good and great at almost everything that doesn't involve shooting. While he shot poorly from the outside last year, a lot his problems might have been mental -- no one is a bad enough shooter to only make 3 of 42 three pointers -- and he became much more effective as the year progressed. Even if he never becomes a good jump shooter, he's still demonstrated the court vision and defensive potential necessary to be a real difference maker on both ends of the court. If those jumpers start falling, though, he could very well find himself playing in quite a few All-Star games.

[NSSpartans81]

Game 1: Wizards blow 4th quarter lead in season opener 105-93

The season is finally here! With Game 1 in the books, here's what we can take away.

Welcome back to the NBA Regular Season! We've waited many, many months to get to this point. For a minute there (and by minute I mean 3 quarters) it looked the Wizards were going to get by the Cavs (double-double by John Wall and 30+ points by the bench of Jordan Crawford and Kevin Seraphin), but that fourth quarter was a freaking nailbiter. The Cavs came back from 10 down, but the Wizards really couldn't hit their shots towards the end of the fourth and fell, 105-93.

Washington Wizards (0-1) at Cleveland Cavaliers (1-0)
Oct. 30, 2012 1 2 3 4 Final Washington 25 21 33 14 93 Cleveland 25 18 29 33 105 Top Performers Washington Wizards J. Wall - 16 PTS, 12 AST K. Seraphin - 14 PTS, 10 REB, 1 BLK Cleveland Cavaliers K. Irving - 25 PTS, 6 AST, 2 STL D. Waiters - 19 PTS, 6 REB, 4 STL	Team Stats Comparison WAS CLE FG Made-Att 39-79 44-86 3PT Made-Att 2-11 9-18 FT Made-Att 13-16 8-14 Rebounds 45 42 Assists 23 20 Turnovers 15 8 Steals 2 11 Blocks 3 3

[NSSpartans81]

Game 2: Wizards hang on to upset Celtics in home opener, 88-85



Well, that turned out to be a lot more interesting than anyone thought. Led by Kevin Seraphin off the bench, the Wizards played tough against the Celtics and earned a 88-85 victory, that nearly lost late in the 4th quarter. Seraphin continued to show why he should be starting and should be featured more, especially in the short term. Right now, he's the only guy that can score against contested defenders, and he's the only guy that merits a double team. Okafor can't say that.

The Wizards don't have great offensive players, but it's striking to see just how much more difficult they make it on each other with their spacing. The timing of plays are off, and as a result, there's always someone that decides to break off the play to create something. A team with poor perimeter shooting has to be pristine in their execution to use whatever inch of spacing they get. The Wizards do the opposite of this.

Despite an injury, Paul Pierce still erupted for 25 points to led the Celtics. Only Jason Terry and Jeff Green scored in double digits along with Pierce, and somehow they still only lost by 3. Just show the defensive merit that the Celtics have.

These two will see each other again on Wednesday as the Wizards will travel to Boston.

Boston Celtics (1-2) at Washington Wizards (1-1)
Nov. 3, 2012 1 2 3 4 Final Boston 25 15 25 20 85 Washington 26 19 23 20 88 Top Performers Boston Celtics P. Pierce - 25 PTS, 4 REB J. Green - 10 PTS, 7 REB Washington Wizards K. Seraphin - 20 PTS, 5 REB, 1 BLK J. Wall - 12 PTS, 6 REB, 9 AST, 3 STL	Team Stats Comparison BOS WAS FG Made-Att 31-70 36-85 3PT Made-Att 4-18 3-14 FT Made-Att 19-23 3-14 Rebounds 47 37 Assists 20 24 Turnovers 20 11 Steals 5 12 Blocks 1 5

[Gronk4M13]

Good games so far, following.

[NSSpartans81]

Players of the Week Oct. 30-Nov. 3
East: LeBron James (MIA) l West: Kevin Love (MIN)

Notable Injuries - Week Oct.30-Nov.3

NAME	TEAM	INJURY	DURATION
Lamarcus Aldridge		Lower Back Strain	Out 1-2 weeks
Steve Nash		Back Spasms	Hurt 1-2 weeks
Paul Pierce		Broken Finger	Hurt 2-4 weeks
Andrea Bargnani		Sprained Wrist	Hurt 1-2 weeks
Iman Shumpert		Strained Calf	Hurt 1-2 weeks
Andre Miller		Broken Jaw	Out 6-8 weeks
Jeff Teague		Broken Arm	Out 6-8 weeks
Blake Griffin		Strained MCL	Hurt Day-to-Day
Andrei Kirilenko		Strained MCL	Hurt 1-2 weeks
Tyler Zeller		Dislocated Finger	Hurt 1-2 weeks

[NSSpartans81]

Game 3: Wizards fall to Celtics in Beantown, 98-91



Well, that was heart-breaking. After fighting back against an early deficit, the Wizards fell apart over the last few minutes of the fourth, losing to the Celtics, 98-91. Boston's legendary toughness was on full display, as Kevin Garnett and Jason Terry in particular seemed to get under the skin of a number of Wizards. Still, the team did a lot of good things and should look at their loss as a learning experience. Boston's a good team and there's no shame in losing to them in Boston.

Washington Wizards (1-2) at Boston Celtics (2-2)
Nov. 7, 2012 1 2 3 4 Final Washington 19 21 30 21 91 Boston 34 16 28 20 98 Top Performers Washington Wizards J. Wall - 12 PTS, 6 REB, 7 AST Nene - 12 PTS, 9 REB Boston Celtics Rajon Rondo - 13 PTS, 4 REB, 9 AST K. Garnett - 12 PTS, 14 REB	Team Stats Comparison WAS BOS FG Made-Att 38-92 34-77 3PT Made-Att 3-15 4-17 FT Made-Att 12-15 26-34 Rebounds 56 45 Assists 22 15 Turnovers 17 12 Steals 8 10 Blocks 2 3

[NSSpartans81]

Game 4: Wizards get shot down by the Bucks, 109-102



Another game, another loss. Once again, the Wizards fought hard, but they couldn't get good possessions when it mattered late and couldn't get quite enough stops to rally in a 109-102 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. Washington falls to 1-3 on the season.

Milwaukee Bucks (2-2) at Washington Wizards (1-3)
Nov. 9, 2012 1 2 3 4 Final Milwaukee 30 33 28 18 109 Washington 33 27 22 20 102 Top Performers Milwaukee Bucks B. Jennings - 31 PTS, 5 AST, 4 STL M. Ellis - 30 PTS, 9 AST Washington Wizards T. Ariza - 21 PTS, 6 REB, 3 AST J. Wall - 21 PTS, 12 AST	Team Stats Comparison MIL WAS FG Made-Att 39-82 41-76 3PT Made-Att 8-21 4-14 FT Made-Att 23-30 16-21 Rebounds 38 43 Assists 24 24 Turnovers 10 18 Steals 8 3 Blocks 1 8